Kitchen Stories: An Artist's Kitchen

Last fall, I went to an art show opening to see a friend's work as part of an Emerging Artist Series. Her colorful and original art was fantastic and the show was a huge success! While I was there, she told me she was going to call me in another year or so because she was ready for a kitchen renovation. To my delight, she called a few months later to tell me she could not wait any longer to change her dark kitchen into a lighter and brighter space. She is an artist and loves color and wanted to push the envelope a little, but also wanted to create something timeless that would not date. Her cabinets were solid wood and in great shape, so we painted them instead of tearing them out and made a few cosmetic changes like cutting out the appliance garage among other things. We pretty much gutted and replaced everything else in the kitchen with new appliances, light fixtures, tile, sink, faucet, hardware and countertops. She wanted light grey cabinets that felt light and bright but had a little more color then white. We found a beautiful soft grey that fit the bill. Since we didn't go too crazy with color, we added some of her personality by finding some special tile and light fixtures that were a little unusual. The first tile she liked was from an Australian company and we loved it but could not find it locally. We searched high and low for something similar and after a pretty extensive search, we found a perfect geometric shape. We had our cabinet maker build a custom bulletin board into her desk to display pictures of her children. We then added some bright color with chartreuse fabric on the bulletin board and a fabulous striped rug. The final result was a classic look with some unique twists. I absolutely loved working with her! She knew exactly what she wanted but was completely open minded to new ideas and even encouraged them. She smiled all the time even if I had to deliver unpleasant news. You get to see a person's bright or dark side when you are tearing apart their kitchen and they can't access water or use the stove for a few days. I can tell you that this client, who is a physically beautiful woman, is just as beautiful on the inside. Thank you #projectivy for being a dream client!

Before:

After: New appliances, tile countertops, hardware and paint

Before Desk area:

After: New desk area with custom bulletin board and a shot of chartreuse!